steiner



G. A. STEINER.

T OWEL CABINET. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3. 1921.

Patented May 2, I922.

' 2 SHEETSSHEET l.

[71 ven for fieorde/I. 5tez'ner His/lttornevs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. STEINER, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN LINEN COMPANY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA.

TOWEL CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2,1922.

Application filed February 3, 1921. Serial No. 442,127.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. STEINER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, county of Salt Lake, State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel Cabinet-s, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a feeding means or measuring device for a roller type of towel which will prevent the delivery of an unnecessary length of towel, thereby providing a greater number of wipes for a given length than usual and effecting a considerable saving in the laundry bill.

A further object is to provide a measuring device which can not get out of order and in which all springs and gear devices are entirely eliminated.

A further object is to provide a towelfeed and control of simple inexpensive construction and one which will not add materiall to the cost of the cabinet.

he invention consists generally in various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a towel cabinet embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view,

Figure-3 is an end elevation,

Fi ire 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3, I

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a sectional View on theline (3-6 of Figure 1.

In the drawing, 2 represents the rear wall of the cabinet, supported by suitable means, not shown, and 3 are the end walls having inwardly and downwardly inclined grooves 4: to receive the shaft 5 on which the clean towel 6 is wound. The grooves 4 have the vertical extension 7 at their inner ends into which the ends of the shaft drop, the walls'ol' the extension holding the sheet against movement during the operation of unwinding the towel. The end walls 3 also have vertical grooves 8 therein and a feed roll 9 has agudgeon 9 at one end fitting within the groove 8 to slide vertically therein and at the other end the gudgeon 9' has a block 10 that is vertically slidable in a guide 11 in the end wall of the cabinet. The

surface of the roll 9 is provided with a covermg of sand paper or other suitable material adapted to engage the towel roll and revolve it to feed the towel when the feed roll itself is revolved.

A cover for the cabinet, comprising. preferably a top Wall 12 and a front wall 13, 1s lunged at 14 tothe rear wall and is adapted to drop down upon the end walls and close the top of the cabinet, as well as the front, normally concealing a greater portion of the towel and all of the. feed roll from view. I prefer to connect the cover 12 with .the feed roll by suitable flexible means, such where the chain is shown in position to lift the feed roll upon further upward move- I ment of the cover. 7

The towel is preferably mounted in the" cabinet so that the loose end will be at the rear, as indicated in Figure 2, and a person using it can reach in under the cabinet, grasp the loose end and at the same time revolve the feed roll or he may revolve the roll until the desired length of towel is fed and then pull the loose end outward to a position for use.

To regulate the feed, a disc 17 is mounted on the block 10 and provided with a cam groove 18'. A crank 19 is mounted on the end of the roll shaft and provided with a hand grip 20 and a pin 21 is slidable in a guide-way 22 in the crank and is provided vwith a lug 23 which contacts with a shoulder 24 formed in the disc 17 for locking the crank against further movement after one revolution. This shoulder is preferably formed by offsetting the groove 18 on the lower side of the disc. It is not necessary with this measuring device for the operator to manipulate the crank and this part of the apparatus may be normally concealed from view or may e omitted entirely, the operator grasping the loose end of the towel and pulling it to slide the pin 21 in the groove 18 until it contacts with the shoulder 21. When this occurs, further movement of the pin and crank and the feed roll will be prevented temporarily. As soon, however, as the user ceases to pull on the towel, the pin or dog 21 will drop by gravity out of contact with the shoulder 24 back to the beginning of the groove'18, as indicated in Figure 6, and then the unwinding movement of the towel roll can be repeated and continued as long as there is any towel on the roll. I ma therefore use the device by revolving the feed roll through the operation of the crank and transmitting the movement of the feed roll to the towel roll or, disregard-- ing the crank entirely, the user may unwind the desired length of towel by simply grasping the free end and pulling it.

he weight of the feed roll on the roll of towel and the friction between them will be such that any one grasping the towel will find it ditlicult to unroll it without first releasing the operating crank and when this has been done, a predetermined length of the towel may be unwound and then the crank will be automatically locked, and fur. ther movement of the towel roll prevented until the crank is again released. Inthis way the user of the'towel will have a certain length positively delivered but there will be no excess and no variation in the amount delivered and hence less waste and the full length of the towel will be utilized for wiping purposes. The objection, therefore, to roller towels of this type arising from the fact that persons will often unwind a great deal more of the towel than they need, will be entirely avoided.

When the clean towel has been entirely unwound, the cover is raised and with it the feed roll to a position which will allow the convenient insertion of a new roll of glean toweling. The operation above described is then repeated.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination, with a towel roll, of a measuring device mounted to automatically check unwinding of the towel when a predetermined length has been delivered, said device becoming automatically set when pull upon the towel ceases to allow the un winding operation to be repeated.

2. The combination, with a towel roll, of a measuring device having a cam groove-and stop and a dog movable in said groove to engage said stop and check unwinding ofv the towel when a predetermined length has been delivered, said dog becoming automatically disengaged from said stop when ull on the towel ceases to allow theunwindmg operation to be repeated. 7 3. The combination, with a towel roll, of a measuring device having a. cam groove and stop and a dog to travel in said groove and engage said stop and check unwinding of the towel when a predetermined length has been delivered, said dog dropping by gravity out of engagement with said stop when pull upon the towel ceases to allow the unwinding operation to be repeated.

4. The combination, with a towel roll, of a measuring device comprising a disc having a cam groove therein and a stop and a dog slidable in said groove to engage said stop and check unwinding of the towel when a predetermined length has been delivered, said dog dropping automatically out of engagement with said stop into said groove when pull upon the towel ceases to allow the unwinding operation to be repeated.

5. The combination, with a towel roll, of a feed roll mounted to contact with the towel thereon and a measuring device in connection with said feed roll mounted to checkunwinding of the towel when a predetermined length has been delivered, said measuring device becoming automatically operative to allow further unwinding of the roll when pull upon the towel ceases.

6. The combination, with a towel roll, of a feed roll in engagement with the towel thereon, a measuring device having a cam groove, a dog mounted to slide radially with respect to the axis of said feed roll and travel in said groove, said groove having a stop to check movement of said dog and unwinding of the towel when a predetermined length has been delivered, said dog dropping by gravity out of engagement with said stop and allowing further unwinding of the roll when pull upon the towel ceases.

7. The combination, with a towel roll, of

. a feed roll, a crank for said feed roll, a

measuring device comprising a disc having a cam groove therein and a stop, a dog mounted to slide radially in saidcrank and travel in said groove and engage said stop and check unwinding of said towel roll when a predetermined length has been delivered, said-dog becoming released from said stop by gravity and permittin further unwinding of said towel roll w an pull upon the towel ceases.

8. The combination, with a towel roll, of a feed roll having a crank, a measuring device co-operating with said crank andfeed roll to check unwinding of the towel. roll when a predetermined length has. been delivered, said measuring device'having a stop to check movement of said crank at the end of each revolution, said measuring device becoming automatically operative at the end of eachrevolution of the crank to allow the unwinding of the towel roll to be repeated.

9. The combination, with a towel cabinet, of a towel roll mounted therein, a feed roll resting bygravity upon said towel roll to be driven thereby, a cover for said cabinet, and means connecting said cover and feed roll for moving said feed roll out of engage.-

ment with said towel roll when the cover is I lifted.

10. The combination, with a towel cabinet having end walls and vertical guideways therein, of a towel roll having a'shaft flttin within said guideways, a feed roll mount 0 to rest upon said towel roll and also having a shaft movable in said guideways, a cover for the top and front of said cabinet, and flexible means connecting said cover with said feed roll shaft for raising said feed roll out of engagement with said towel roll when said cover is opened.

'11. The combination, with a towel cabinet, of a towel roll mounted therein, a feed roll having a shaft mounted to slide vertically in guides provided in the end walls of said cabinet, said feed roll resting by gravity upon said towel roll, a cover connected with said feed roll shaft for raising it out of contact with said towel roll when said cover is lifted, and a measuring device mounted on the shaft of said feed roll and movable therewith for checking the revolution of said I been delivered.

12. The combination, with a towel cabinet having end walls provided with inclined and vertical guideways therein intersecting in the lower portion of said walls, of a towel roll having its shaft adapted to enter said inclined guideways and seated in the lower ends of said vertical guideways, a feed roll slidable in said vertical guideways and resting upon said towel roll. and a measuring device mounted on said feed roll and having means for checking the revolution of said feed roll and said towel roll when a predetermined length of towel has been delivered.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 28" day of January 1921.

GEORGE A. STEINER. 

